The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1887-12-11


silly people thought, was useless bravado. bue
our strength was moral strength, ana must
rest physical battles upon succesS1u 9eiense'
Nobody knew this better than the slayenoloels;;
SO, as they made an issue with both Z zee ana
myself, they saw that they had placed them
selves in fatal position: tnae spo1 bro Te
forever; and the boldest of them feared the re-
suit in a Commonwealth where so s snlan
proportion Of the voters were sia The
exercise of admitted constitutlonaI rlgnL Is
They, therefore, knowing that would SPEAK or
die. sent a committee of their most pronlne,ne
men from Lincoln to my house. thirty miles
away. with instructions to approach me IN q
friendly spirit and advise me OF the dangers Oh
nv attempt. / received the committee with
| cordiality at my own house. where now write write
and after hearing them with respectful atten-
ton, I said: Gentlemen, say to your Irlenos
that appreciate their kindness IN send1ng you
| to advise with me: but, God willing, shail
| speak in Stanford on the day named 90, as !
foresaw, there a square division OF op!nlon
were solid. The upshot was that the court
| house. being of the largest IN the STATE was
| crowded to overlooking. The excitement vas
! intense, but was heard without a single inter-
| ruption This was signal victory to me ana
my cause, for if was victorious IN the olue
| grass region, the very stronghold OF slavery,
| might claim an easy triumph elsewhere
He adds: ''As my mother says in one OF her
| letters to me. I was not always mild in my mode
| of statement" -,
| and that Kentucky was a rough country In
! "WickIiffe. in canvassing, was in the habit of
| reading a .handbilp in his own behalf, without
| naming another .handbilr which refuted his
| friends statement In Garrett Davis's absence
/ took the liberty to interrupt him, and, by ms
| permission, to say, that handful (which he had
| just ready was proven untrue by another gooo
/ authority He then would resume his remarks:
| After this had occurred several times ne sent
| for Samuel NJ Brown late of New Orleans, who
/ was postoffice travelling agent under Charies
I! A. Wickliffe. his relative. then Postmaster gen
| ground He was an old Wing of social charac-
| ter, strong physique and. in word a political
| bully. He it was who had the tight Win nonas
| Moore, the Democratic Congressman. at Ear,
! rodsburg and of whom It was said that he had
| forty fights and never lost battle AT Rus-
| sells Cave. in Fayette county. wien MI WICK
| life repeated the usual role interrupted MN
| again as before. saying: That handful has oeen
proven untrue AT that moment Brown gave
| me the damned lie and struck me simulsane,
/ ously with his umbrella knew the man ana
! that it meant death struggle. l at once drew
| my bowie knife, but before | could strike was
| seized from behind and borne by force about
| fifteen feet from Brown, who, now being armed
| with Colts revolver cried Clear the way
/ and letme kill the damned rascal The way was
/ speedily cleared and l stood isolated from the
crowd Now, as Brown had his pistol bearing
upon me, had either to advance. 30,
| turning my left side toward him, with NY left
/ arm covering it, so to protect it to that ex-
! tent, 1 advanced rapidly on him, knife in hand.
/ Seeing that was coming, he knew well that
| nothing but a fatal and sudden shot could save
|
| aim, just as was in arms reach he fired az my
| heart. came down on his head with tremen-
| dous blow, which would have split open an or
/ binary skull, but Browns was as thick as that
| of an African. This blow laid his skull open
/ about three inches to the brain, indenting 1t,
| but not breaking the textures; but it so stunned
| him that he was more able to fire. but feebly
| attempted to seize me. The conspirators now
| seized me and held both my arms above my
| elbows, which only allowed me to strike with
| my forearm Brown advanced upon me-. l
| was also struck with hickory sticks and chairs
| But finding was likely to get loose they threw
| Brown over the stone fence. This fence which
| inclosed the yard the steep descent to the
| cave and spring. was built of limestone, about
| two feet high on the upper side, but perhaps
| seven or eight on the lower side So Brown
| had terrible fall, which ended the contest
| Raising my bloody knife I said: i repeat
| that the handful was proven falsehood, and l
| stand ready to defend the truth But neither
| Mr.. Wickliffe nor any of the conspirators taking
up my challenge, some of my friends, recover
| ing from their lethargy, took me by the arm
| Seeing where Browns bullet had entered) to
| the dwelling houses andf on opening my vest
and shirt bosom. found only red spot over my
| heart, but wound. On examination it
| found that the ball. as pulled up the scabbard
| of my bowie knife in drawing the blade, had
| entered the leather the point, which
| lined with silver, and was there lodged. Thus
| Providence fate reserved me for better
| work"
In 1S45 Mr.. Clay determined DO start an anti
| slavery newspaper in Frankfort, in the heart
| of Kentucky. He was threated of course and
he prepared himself to meet the enemies of free
| speech.
"My prospectus was moderate enough-pro-
| posing none but constitutional methods IN the
| overthrow of slavery; but when the first num-
Der appeared. the Sd day of June. 1s45, the
| war was raging apace all along the lines. Sc
| lected for my Office brick building and lined
| the outside doors with sheet iron to prevent it
being burned. 1 purchased two braas four
| FOUNDER cannon at Cincinnati, and placed them,
| loaded with shot and nails, on a table breast
| high; had folding doors secured with a chain,
which would open upon the mob and give play
to my cannon. furnished my Office with Mex
| lean lances and a limited number of guns
| There were six and eight persons who stood
ready to defend me. If defeated they were to
escape by trap-door in the roof, and had
placed keg of powder, with match. which L
would set off and blow up the Office and all my
INVADERS and this should most certainly have
done in case of the last extremity"
The mob did not come. MIR. Clays mother
was a woman of Roman courage. She wrote to
her son at this time: ''Cassius, don't give up
anything you think it your duty to defend"
| And again she wrote IF you prefer death to
dishonor, so do l." This in a letter which plainly
shows she did not think him judicious; but she
stood by him, nevertheless.
With one more story from this most interest
ing book we must close. 1t contrasts the genu-
inc courage Of gentleman with the sham cour-
age of bully Mr.. Clay writes
after the mob of the 18th of August. 1916,
| while ! still editing the True American,
then printed at Cincinnati; one day sitting in
the office of my brother-in law Madison c. John
| son, John U. Waring entered. This man, a
lawyer of Versailles, Woodford county. KY,
! was one OF the greatest deSperadOeS IN the
State. He had killed several men and was the
terror of every one. had often heard of him,
but had never seen him before. When he was
introduced to me he said: This is Cash Clay, 1
suppose l said: Yes Years ago. said he,
DIR. L. Marshall, Thomas F. Marshalls father,
began playing the same role on the slavery
question as you doing. took halter
and showed him limb of tree and told him if
he did not give it up would hang him to it,
and he gave it up Now you will meet with the
same fate This man, who went always armed
with pistols and knives in boots. pockets and
| elsewhere, was of small but wiry frame, with
! dark hair and skin, and eyes also black and
| fiery and furtive. /, too. was well armed, and
greatly his superior in personal strength. So,
| though I felt very much excited. kept cool
| nerve, and advancing him till 1 could reach
| him with my knife if need be, I said: Mr.. War
| ing. L exercise q constitutional right shall
| not follow Marshall's example, and whenever
! you or your friends attempt to force you
will find me ready to defend myself Finding